Officials at the East of England Ambulance Service said its first student paramedic course will start on April 7 from its Norwich base.

The under-performing trust launched a programme to recruit 400 student paramedics in January, which has received more than 3,000 applications.

Anthony Marsh, chief executive, said: “Recruiting student paramedics is an absolute priority for the trust and to see the first training places being filled is another step in the right direction. As we recruit more student paramedics we will be running more training courses across the region throughout the year.”

The ambulance trust will be re-advertising the student paramedic role throughout the spring and is continuing to recruit qualified and graduate paramedics.

Details can be found advertised on the NHS jobs website and www.eastamb.nhs.uk